Singapore announces plans to replace Heron 1, Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicles

 

A Heron 1 UAV. Photo c/o Janes.

The Chief of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), Major General Kelvin Khong announced that the service is already looking ahead with plans to replace its fleet of Heron 1 and Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicles in the future as part of its modernization efforts.

The Elbit System Hermes 450 and  IAI Heron 1 UAVs, which provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to the RSAF and Singapore Armed Forces as a whole, have been in service since 2007 and 2012, respectively.

The Heron 1 reached Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2017, while the Hermes 450 reached FOC in 2022. 

No information on the timeline and potential replacement for these UAVs were provided, although it is expected that they would be larger and more capable than both existing UAV models, and may even have firepower delivery capabilities.

There have been reports back in 2022 that the Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) ordered up to 12 new Hermes 900 UAVs from Elbit Systems in a deal believed to be worth US$300 million. 

If confirmed, the Hermes 900 might not be replacements for both the Heron 1 and Hermes 450 but are most likely to complement them in operating over the far edges of Singapore’s Sea Lane of Communications (SLC). 

[1] Janes

[2] Alert 5